Shloka 3
कर्णेन्द्रविनिमयः
Karna–Indra Exchange of Kavaca-Kuṇḍala for the Vāsavī-Śakti
नहि ते वृजिनं किंचिद् वर्तते परमण्वपि । अस्मिन् मार्गे निषीदेयु: सेन्द्रा अपि सुरसुरा:,श्रीरामके कष्टके सामने तुम्हारा कष्ट अणुमात्र भी नहीं है। इन्द्रसहित देवता तथा असुर भी इस क्षत्रियधर्मके मार्गपर चले हैं
Markaṇḍeya uvāca: nahi te vṛjinaṃ kiñcid vartate paramāṇv api | asmin mārge niṣīdeyuḥ sendrā api surāsurāḥ ||
Markandeya said: “No trace of wrongdoing or fault belongs to you—not even as much as an atom. On this very path of duty even the gods and the asuras, Indra included, have had to sit down in exhaustion and submit to its demands.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reassures the listener of moral blamelessness and frames hardship as something that can arise even on the righteous path; enduring suffering does not by itself indicate sin, and even the greatest beings (Indra, gods, and asuras) are subject to the demands and trials of dharma.
Markandeya is consoling and strengthening the addressee (in the Vana Parva context, typically the afflicted Pāṇḍavas), declaring that their distress is not due to any fault of theirs and that the path of duty can overwhelm even mighty cosmic powers.